A light in dark times

Hello Everyone,

It’s been kind of a dark year in South Africa, in terms of news. The Protection of Information Bill, violent protests, racist rhetoric, horrific rape, corruption, and other negative issues have plagued the country’s media during 2013. I have found it quite depressing and have been becoming a little less optimistic about the country than I have in the past. But maybe I can learn something from Chanukah.

Chanukah is held, normally, during the darkest time of the year. It occurs during the winter solstice (in the Northern Hemisphere). It represents the victory of Jewish culture over the darkness that was anti-Jewish legislation (for the full story of Chanukah see HERE). The lights of the menorah symbolise a light that can overcome the darkness, a light that demonstrates that we can overcome negative, dark times.

So this Chanukah, when we light our candles (and perhaps eat our latkes), think of the light that we can create. We can be that light unto the nations, and create a bridge over the dark abyss of negativity, whether in the public domain of socio-political life, or the private domain of our hopelessness, depression and despair. 

My fiancé sometimes says I’m very positive, looking at the world through rose-coloured glasses. Maybe my glasses are becoming a bit less rose-coloured, and as I get older I’m becoming more cynical. Perhaps when I light my candles tonight, the light of the menorah can show the path towards the positivity that we so desperately need.  

Chanukah Sameach!

The importance of language

Hi everyone,

I’m currently researching for my masters thesis, and it’s going rather slowly (which may be why I’m taking a break to write a blogpost). I’m looking at the power that language has, although I’ve phrased my question in a much more convoluted way. My big qualm with South African society is the way it doesn’t grapple with the language issues at hand. So, a little Judaism will help me on my way to explain myself.

I remember one of my guests on ChaiFM speaking about the importance of Hebrew as the language of God, and the eternal language of the Torah. She mentioned that it was the first language, and that it’s very essence is holy. The Hebrew alphabet (or aleph-bet), as she described it, was the basis for life, almost the periodic table of elements and the foundation of our existence.

Judaism sees language as so important that a single letter missing renders a Torah scroll traif. My guest even mentioned that saying a prayer in Hebrew made it more likely to be heard by God (I disagree, but that’s my opinion).

So when it comes to my thesis, and my point of language in general, language is the basis of society, and the building blocks of life. In South Africa today, we take language for granted. We have 11 official languages, but we expect everyone to be able to be proficient in English. Why can’t we be proficient in Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho etc? I’m a bit of a hypocrite as I don’t practice what I preach, but I think that we should place as much emphasis on other languages as we do on English. If we don’t, the basis of many peoples’ cultural life and foundation will disintegrate, as will our multicultural, rich heritage.

Hopefully I’ll become more proficient in another language before I finish my thesis!

Ok, bye

A chance to subscribe to Judaism

Hello Everyone!

This morning I received an SMS from ChaiFM, which read: “Stand up for SA Jewry. Claim your radio station voice! Subscribe to 101.9 ChaiFM today! R100p/m.”

I found this rather interesting for two reasons:
1. I suggested this last year, as Radio Today runs a similar campaign.
2. I think it has quite a bit to say about the Jewish community today.

As with anything where you pay, you have the option to have your voice heard. Just as you can attend an AGM for the building you live in and make suggestions, so too can you now pay for your Jewish radio station, and make suggestions as to how you can improve it.

I think one can use this example for Judaism. What would happen if we paid a subscription fee for being Jewish. I’m not talking about our Shul membership fees. Those don’t make us Jews. Instead, like all good Jews, we paid for to be an MOT (Member of the Tribe) and tried to get our monies worth. We would question what this ‘Judaism’ stood for, try to see how to better it, and maybe even sway some minds as to how to be more open and ‘progressive’.

Just to go on a tangent, yesterday I went to Sinai Indaba. I think it’s a great event. It brings people from all walks of Judaism to hear great international speakers give us their ideas of Israel, Torah and Faith. However, I didn’t leave feeling like I was a shareholder. I felt as if the decisions were already made, and I had to follow and listen.

I think that subscribing to ChaiFM is a good idea, and it may just make people more aware of their radio station (as it THE Jewish radio station). Maybe we can think about how we would get our monies worth if we subscribed to being a Jew. 

P.S. We can talk about this at Limmud, so register now (Had to add a little punt). 

A Safe Space

Hi Everyone!

It’s been so long since my last blog post that I don’t recognise the WP format! 

So the other day I went to a meeting where the idea of safe spaces was discussed. We kept on speaking about “creating a safe space” for dialogue and discussion. In the aftermath of a particularly destructive Israel Apartheid Week many individuals were speaking about ‘safe spaces’. However, I want to know what a safe space is, and if that is actually what people want. 

So what is a safe space? Facebook has been witness to a lambasting of Habonim Dror’s new poster for Shorashim, a tour to Israel, where they have left out the occupied territories out of the map of Israel. There was intense criticism on Facebook, where many saw it as their obligation to point out where Habonim were right or wrong, attacking or defending. For me, as an Habonim Chaver (or friend of Habonim), it was very upsetting to see such hate, on both sides of the spectrum. Was this a safe space? A tsunami of hate crashing down on Facebook? I don’t think so…

Is a safe space a place where I can debate about what I think is right, you refute that, and we leave as we came, our minds not open to other opinions? Can you continue to be courteous and friendly to an individual who is ideologically opposed you? I don’t know. I’m confused myself. Maybe my question is whether there is such a thing as a ‘safe space’, or whether we are continuously walking on eggshells or shouting at the top of our lungs.

I’ll be thinking about that at my Seder, if the wine won’t make my mind too fuzzy. 

Have a good Shabbas, and a Chag Pesach Sameach!

Craig

 

The First Jewish Innovator

Hi Everyone!

This week is Parshat Lech Lecha, where God tells a brand new guy on the scene, Avram, to forsake everything in his homeland and go, to where God shows him. For about 17 generations, the world has only known idolatry, descending down into a chaotic world. Here comes Avram, and he challenges that. He takes the known religion and chucks it out of the window. And he doesn’t do this because someone told him to do it. 

Adam was told what to do, when God told him not to eat the apple. He did it. Not a good result for mankind. Noah also told what what to do. Build an ark. He did it, but he didn’t change the lives of all people, and some even say he brought about the flood. Abraham was not told by God to spread the word of Ethical Monotheism. He did it, without anyone asking him. He had complete faith, and he had the guts to act upon his faith. 

Today, we’re often very comfortable with what we have. We sometimes like being in our little boxes made of ticky tacky (thanks R Lipskar). But we need to go out of our comfort zones, have faith that we can change, and have the courage to act upon that. Let’s innovate something, whether it’s ourselves, our relationships, or our communities. Be like Abraham, and have the courage to change.

Good Shabbas!

How to Make Friends and Influence People

Hello Everyone!

I’m back from my absence, and I would like to impart some cool information about this week’s parsha, Noach. We’ve come down from the benevolence of God creating the world, and his kindness in basically forgiving human-kind from all their misdeeds. However, when it comes to this week’s parsha, God is a bit more angry, and He shows his punitive side.

So this guy Noah was chosen by God to make an Ark (teyve) as He was going to destroy the world, cleanse it of the evil people in it, and only save one family to re-populate earth, as well as all the animals that were not influenced negatively by their human counterparts. Noah was apparently the most righteous person in his generation. Why have I highlighted that? Rashi’s one opinion (because he’s a Jewish commentator he obviously has two) is that if we had to compare Noah to other righteous people, such as Abraham, he wouldn’t be that righteous. And one may say that of course he was, he was chosen by God to make an ark, he took 120 years, and he told people about the impending doom of global destruction. 

However, there’s a lovely analogy one could give. When you’re freezing on a cold night with a group of people, and you have a coat, you could put the coat on and warm yourself up. Or you could make a fire and warm everyone else up. Noah wore his coat, protected himself, and didn’t really tell the evil people of the land to shape up (or they’d have to ship off :P). We need to make fires to warm everyone up, to include people in our community, and not to judge others. Noah was a good guy. But we need to be great.

Good Shabbas! 

And so it Went

Hi Everyone!

It’s Shabbat Shuvah, the one Shabbat that many people try to do something more Shabbasdik than on others. Is it because it’s the 10 days? I don’t know. Anyway, to each his own. Not only is it Shabbat Shuvah, it’s also the last parsha, that of Parshat Vayelech (And he went). It’s a short parsha, so it’s relatively easy to do through, but it still has as many messages to us today as the other parshas.

This parsha is about Moses leaving his position as leader of the Israelites, and going to rest peacefully. He doesn’t get a final reprieve to go in the Holy Land, but he makes as much of his last few days as he can. He doesn’t stop everything, isolating himself in his tent and being introspective. Instead, he goes to each of the tribes, and says it has been a long and arduous journey, I’ve done a lot for you, even though sometimes you didn’t deserve it, but I trust everything will be good for you. 

I know most of don’t know when we’re going to leave this world, but it does have a meaning today. Often once we know something, like when we are leaving a job, we (or at least I) tend to let it pass by quickly, and not do as much as we could. Here Moses still keeps on trying to help, filling up his last days with productive, hard work. Another example could be something incorrect we’ve done. We could try to say “Well I can’t do anything about it, what’s done is done.” But that isn’t the right attitude.

It’s Yom Kippur coming up on Wednesday, and during that time, maybe think about some of those issues within yourself that you’d like to change. It’s not all about “Oh! My soul needs to be cleansed!” Instead, take a look at your issues, your misdeeds, your little slip-ups, and try to focus on how you can go forward. So instead of looking backwards and regressing, next year you can say “I went…”

Have a good Shabbas! And a great Yom Kippur!

Craig

A New Year

Hi Everyone!

It’s Shabbas in a few hours, and then it’s Yom Tov, where we go into a month of festivals, starting with Rosh Hashanah. So what is it about Rosh Hashanah? We get told it’s when Man was created, with God creating a world of positives and negatives, good things and bad things. We live this reality everyday, where we are given the potential to do things which we think are better, some things which are worse. But, why dwell on the negative? All of us do bad things. We all make mistakes, maybe we do things which seem right at the time. But who am I to judge?

Talking about judgement, we are told that on Rosh Hashanah our names are inscribed, and that on Yom Kippur our names are sealed, in whichever book we are deemed fit to be in. When judgement becomes the subject, I get scared. Maybe I don’t believe in the Lord’s Judgement, but it still is a little unnerving. However, God is called Avinu Malkeinu, Our Father, our King. I don’t know about you, but my father is quite nice to me. He’s supported me for many years, he catches me out when I do something stupid, he doesn’t like certain decisions that I make, but he still loves me. And I guess when it comes to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, God is our father (according to the Rabbis on my show). He is compassionate, merciful, and He loves us. Which is comforting.

We pray for prosperity, health, and only good things, which of course I wish to all of you. We pray for sweet and good years. And maybe, take upon something new this year. If you want to become more Jewish, become more Jewish. If you want to make yourself better, in any which way, do it. But do it in baby steps.

And so, I hope you have a Shana Tova Umetukah, Gmar Chatima Tova, and only Good Things for the year ahead.

And… Good Shabbas!

Justice and Law… Kindness and Truth

Hi Everyone!

So this week something happened to me that made me lose it. Now for those of you who know me, I don’t lose it easily. I may get irritated, really annoyed, but I don’t lose it. However, after speaking about this particular situation with my girlfriend, friends, family and work colleagues (I don’t feel the need to keep these things secret) I realised that instead of meting out my form of justice, I should seek peace. And this leads me into the parsha, Shoftim. In parshat Shoftim, we learn about the systems we should put in place with regards to the legal system. Assign for yourselves “Judges and Police…”, the parsha says. It then says “Justice, Justice shall you pursue…” 

There is a song by Mookie (Israelis…) called Medabrim al Shalom, which says “Everyone talks about peace, but no one speaks about Justice.” I’d like to differ. I think that all of us think of our own forms of justice, how we can seek out and pursue justice which will suit our own causes and purposes. I do this, and I’m sure you do too. I would love to really create havoc, which I consider to be the just way of dealing with things, when in fact it probably isn’t. However, it was the Yom Kippur service that showed me another way of seeing things.

In L’chu N’ranana, which is sung (by my shul) on Kol Nidre, there are two verses that are always stuck in my mind. One is Tzedek U’Mishpat (Justice and Laws) and another is Chesed V’Emet (Kindness and Truth). I think we need to take heed of the latter. Justice and law is important in any society, but needs to be handled with care, and we must ensure we don’t abuse either. However, kindness is something that creates the truth. If we think for a second, and contemplate how to be kind in any situation, even if we have lost our cool, we can ascertain what the truth is. Some people see the truth as black or white, but I think that with our kind actions, we can see a new truth. 

So be kind, rewind, and have an excellent Shabbas!

Craig

Seeing a New Direction

Hi Everyone!

After a hugely successful Limmud in JHB, Durban and CT, I’m back at work and back to blogging on a Friday. This week the parsha is Re’eh, which means ‘see’. It’s a strange word in the Torah, and isn’t used that often. However, what can we learn from it.

This week we’ve seen a lot and heard a lot that could make us very uncomfortable and downright upset. But with Elul coming up, I think we can look at something else today. With a new year on the horizon, maybe it’s time to see what we’ve done this year, and how we have progressed or moved backwards. Personally, Judaism is fascinating because there are always times for introspection, a time to look inside myself and say, “What am I doing, how can I improve?” It’s not easy, and often it’s rather depressing, but with all things, completely necessary.

Because I’m feeling rather introspective, it’s time for me to say Good Shabbas, Chodesh Tov and have a great week!